Annual Report
Piscataqua District
GCFM Convention 2011
It has been an honor and privilege to have been the Piscataqua District Director for the past term. Having been on the District Board for many years since it’s beginnings, it was no surprise to realize that our five Clubs are made up of dedicated, pro-active gardeners and designers. Their accomplishments in so many aspects of gardening are almost overwhelming. For a small group, around 350 members, the communities served are overflowing with beautiful flowers. Traffic islands, monuments, planters, whiskey barrels, window boxes, gazebos and public buildings are just a few of the places that are planted and maintained by our garden club members.
Two of our Clubs, Seacoast (Kennebunk/Kennebunkport) and Old York have published books with tips on gardening. Both have received National Awards for their efforts. Seacoast has a very active youth program winning many awards each years for posters and poetry. All our Clubs have youth programs which they support. Old York Garden Club had a very successful Flower Show last year staged at the public library making it very accessible to the community. Our Clubs support programs, activities and events sponsored by the Federation.
The District Board of Directors strived to initiate ways to bring our individual club members together as a District. Each Club welcomed visitors to their meetings to share interesting and educational programs. In addition, we have had the opportunity to see some wonderful designers.
I would be remiss, if I did not mention once again, my gratitude for all the hard work and dedication the Clubs gave to make Convention 2010 a success.
Working with the Club Presidents, Janet Gourley from Harbourside (Kittery/Kittery Point), Wendy Cote, Eliot Garden Club, Sherry McConnell from Old York, Lynn Jourdan, Seacoast and Nancy Rogers of Southern Maine which servers the Sanford/Springvale area and 3 communities in New Hampshire, has been a rewarding experience. Making new friendships that will continue in the years to come has been the highlight of my term.
Mary Ericson, Piscataqua District Director
June 22, 2011
2011 Penobscot District Report from Patricia Snyder As suburbia continues its sprawl into the communities surrounding the City of Bangor, the Penobscot District’s seven garden clubs have continued to maintain their commitment to our native landscape and rural Maine tradition of homespun community service. Our proximity to the University of Maine’s flagship campus gives us access to wonderful academic expertise and rich resource for programs. The dedicated leaders of our clubs have carried the torch proudly forward despite personal challenges of aging or illness. We gardeners know the great strength and healing power to be found in the soil and flowers – whether cultivated or wild, in birdsongs, in the exuberance of young animals. We strive to share this knowledge and understanding and joy of gardening with our neighbors and newcomers, young and old alike. This spring we collaborated with The Arts Alliance and provided 37 floral arrangements to complement and interpret their art at an Art In Bloom exhibit at Bangor‘s Garden Show. Our district has been paying the course tuition for two of our members to attend Flower Show School, and these two in turn, Carol Smith and Pam Newcomb, have chaired our district flower show activities these last few years, ably assisted by our resident expert Sally Mowbray. The Brewer Garden and Bird Club is as ambitious with its many areas of outreach as is its city, which has undergone rapid commercial development in recent years. Their active group of Junior Garden Growers continues the club’s long-standing support of programs for youth . The chair of Brewer’s Youth Committee was Ann Gallant. A fourth grade student from Hampden won first place in the state for her Smokey Bear/Woodsy Owl poster. Hampden’s Youth Chairman is Judy Luro, their former club president and a retired school teacher. Hampden hosts wonderful farmers markets and other community events in their club-owned historic Harmony Hall. Several of Orrington’s members volunteer at the Fields Pond Audubon Center-- helping with the gift shop, serving as docents for children’s nature programs, and helping to maintain the landscaping around the building. The Bangor Garden Club has been rejuvenated with new leadership. They hosted an elegant Spring District Meeting for us at the Muddy Rudder Restaurant. Their service projects include a youth program at the Bangor Public Library for children to make small planters, flower boxes at the library, a lovely Circle of Senses herb garden at the Dorothea Dix psychiatric hospital, and flowers planted at the fire department’s museum. Milo membership increased by 10% to over 50, now the largest club in our district and the most rural. Their August Fair and Plant Sale is highly recommended as a destination for summer fun in old timey tradition. The newly elected Penobscot District Director is Carol Arnold from Veazie Garden Club, and assistant director is Pam Newcomb from Sebasticook Garden Club. Both of these clubs have been planting NGC’s daffodils throughout their towns. GARDEN CLUB FEDERATION OF MAINE Kennebec District Annual Report – June, 2011 Shelly Hanson, District Director Mt. Blue Area Garden Club hosted this year’s annual District meeting on May 17 at the Calzolaio’s Pasta Company in Wilton. All of the arrangements were done by members of Mt. Blue – most using watering cans and spring flowers from their gardens. The theme for the meeting was “Preserving our Future”. Our speaker was Alan Markert from the Maine Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation. Alan shared how he and other members of the foundation are working to restore the American chestnut to its original forest ranges in Maine. We had 56 members attending from the seven clubs in the District. Mt. Blue members were gracious hostesses and both State President Becky Linney and President Elect Kathleen Marty were able to join us for the meeting. We all had a good time visiting with other garden club members in the District. This year we have had a new club join our District, Community Garden Club of Jackman. They have 10 members and are active in a number of community gardens, they have held a plant sale and sold wreaths at Christmas time. We have had two new garden clubs join the District the last two years - Community Garden Club of Jackman and Monmouth Garden Club. Members of the Kennebec District participated in the Annual Garden Party "Summer Solstice in the Garden" at Fieldstone Gardens in Vassalboro last June. The garden party was sponsored by Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area. We started the day by doing a couple of workshops. Waterville Community Garden Club demonstrated container gardens and Kennebec Valley Garden Club demonstrated flower arranging. Tables were set up with information about the various clubs, covering activities of the clubs, describing the benefits of joining a club, and offering other gardening advice. The six container gardens were donated to the silent auction and netted $170 for Hospice Volunteers. Both Mt. Blue Area and Bloomfield Garden Clubs have added a number of new members this year. It is always nice when we have new members join us who are eager to learn and share ideas. All of the clubs in the District are very busy with gardening projects - whether it is working in community gardens, their own club gardens, garden therapy projects, working with students in schools to share the knowledge of gardening to holding plant sales, garden tours to raise money for their clubs to be able to offer scholarships to students furthering their education in horticulture. The District is looking forward to hosting this year’s Fall Conference Wednesday, October 26 at the Ramada Inn in Lewiston. The theme is “Gardening with a Purpose” and Jill Hodsdon, Central Maine Garden Club will be Chairman. Hope to see all of you there. As District Director, I am very proud of the wonderful work these clubs do for their communities. I am pleased to have been their Director for the past two years. Shelly Hanson Kennebec District Director
2011 ST. CROIX DISTRICT REPORT
The Garden Clubs that belong to the St. Croix District are: Bar Harbor, Bucksport, Ellsworth, Franklin, Pleasant River (new) and Surry.
All the garden clubs in our district planted containers, window boxes, a town trough, and like Sonia Cianchette, if it didn't move, we filled it with flowers.
Ellsworth's garden club held a flower show which was award winning. Bucksport had a "Secret Tour" and will hold its 3rd annual Bucksport's Abloom in July. Surry will hold the Fall Conference because of all the work that had to be done on the convention. Every club held plant sales, bulb sales and more. Some clubs entered the Blue Hill Fair floral display contest. (Ellsworth won).
The Blue Star markers were taken care of better than in past years and more work will be done in the coming year. Bucksport has turned in for an award for Civic Development with a project to create a Turtle Nesting area.
All the other many hours were spent preparing for the 80th GCFM 2011 Convention in Castine. Flower arrangements were made, name tags hand printed, 3 table favors were done, programs printed, tours were set up and lodging at MMA was handled by the chairs of the committee. Vendors were selected as well as speakers. A garden tour with the Castine Garden Club was coordinated and another tour was coordinated with the Castine Historical Society. Two boats were asked to participate in a boat tour which was very popular as was the green house tours including Eliott Coleman's farm. The St Croix District worked very hard this year and all the marvelous events certainly showed their talents.
Alvion will continue as District Director until January, when Mary Blackstone (Ellsworth) will return to Maine. Mary is taking care of her husband Cameron, who suffered a severe heart attack earlier this year. Assistant Director is John Gilchrist (Franklin), Secretary is Karen Johnson (Bucksport) and Treasurer is Mary Opdyke (Bar Harbor).
Respectfully Submitted
St. Croix District Director
Alvion Kimball